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Debate.org
Debate.org (also abbreviated as DDO) is an online debate forum that provides a platform for debating about controversial topics. http://www.debate.org/about/company/ It advertises itself as the "premier online debate website", and provides a variety of features through their debates, opinions, polls, and forums sections. Origins The website was founded by the couples Phillip and Crystal Ferreia in 2007, intended to facilitate debate between a variety of people regardless of "creed, nationality, gender, or sexuality." It was later acquired by Juggle, LLC in 2010. Juggle originally had a debate website called juggle.debate, which was later merged into Debate.org as the opinions section after the acquiry.http://ddo.wikia.com/wiki/Juggle Note: That is the official wiki, while this wiki is the fan wiki. Sections Debate.org is separated into the debates, opinions, polls, and forums sections, each serving a separate purpose. Debates Main article: Debates Debates are the focus of Debate.org. They are round-by-round discussions between two users about controversial topics.http://www.debate.org/help/faq/ Debates go through four stages: the challenge period, the debating period, the voting period, and the post voting period. Challenge period In the challenge period, a user asks eligible users to join the debate. The user who starts the debate is known as the instigator. The instigator can choose the topic of the debate, who can join the debate, the debate's length in rounds from one to five, the maximum number of characters allowed in each round, the allotted time per round, and the length of the voting period. Debating period Next is the debating period, when the second user, referred to as the contender, joins the debate. During the debating period, the two users discuss over a topic decided by the instigator, each taking a different side. Voting period Main article: Votes In the voting period, triggered by all the rounds being completed, the debate becomes open for the community to judge. The instigator can choose to open the debate to all users to vote on, or limit the voting to a few select judges. Vote bombing Vote bombing is the practice of casting unfair or unexplained votes. While members originally countered vote bombs by giving the exact same votes, except to the opposite side, a new feature that allows users to report votes has made this obsolete. Post voting period In the post voting period, triggered by the timer for the voting period running out, voting is closed and the winner of the debate is disclosed. Forums Main article: Forums The forums are a section of debate.org which allows users to discuss a variety of topics without the restrictions imposed by the round-based format of debates. Opinions Main article: Opinions The opinions section is formatted like a two-sided poll similar to websites like CreateDebate. Users submit topics formatted like a "yes or no" question, and other users reply to the question with a yes or no answer. Members can reply to other user's opinions, with refutations or attempts to change the public opinion. Posts on the opinions section are filtered with an automated filter, and comments deemed inappropriate by the automated filter are manually reviewed by moderators. Polls Main article: Polls Polls are similar to opinions, except they allow more than two sides, and votes can be submitted without comments. The purpose of polls are also different from opinions. The polls are done for the purpose of collecting public opinion, while the opinions section is a different format of debate. Criticism Various users have complained about the website's community. One user states that the community has a pro-atheist slant,http://www.debate.org/debates/There-are-more-atheists-than-theists-on-debate.org/1/ and accused the atheist users of being "hostile to Christianity". http://www.debate.org/debates/Debate.org-is-crawling-with-atheists-hostile-to-christianity/1/ Unfair Moderation A banned user has accused the site's lead administrator, Airmax1227, of having personal grudges on him. The banned user alleges that his ban was unfair and caused by this personal grudge.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-hUy2QCOx6TvpgMfnFldpoDMRBqzlU--t0I1Ii9cKJY/edit?pli=1 References